| Unit name | Economy and Society in the Ancient World |
|---|---|
| Unit code | CLAS12331 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | C/4 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Professor. Morley |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of Classics & Ancient History |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
How similar was the ancient world to our own? This question lies at the heart of all discussions of ancient economy and society; it gives them a significance that goes beyond the apparently straightforward questions of how the ancients produced, distributed and consumed food and other goods, and how they organised their society. The 'material base' of the economy not only supported 'classical civilisation', it shaped it and set limits on its development. We shall make use of traditional literary sources, archaeology, comparative evidence from other pre-industrial societies and modern theories, with the aim of understanding not only how the ancient economy and society were structured but also how this might affect our views of the ancient world and how to study it, and even our views of our own society
